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MBA News: Overcome a Low GMAT Score at Top Business Schools

According to a recent Bloomberg BusinessWeek article, applicants with GMAT scores near or even below the 544 score average for all GMAT test-takers are being accepted—even at top business schools. Although the most recent incoming class of Harvard Business School students (2013) has a median GMAT score of 730, the lowest accepted score for the class was 490. At the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Deputy Dean for the Full-Time MBA Program Stacey Kole says the school looks for “evidence of intellectual curiosity,” which can be indicated by a candidate’s undergraduate work and his/her answer to the open-ended question “What else should we know about you?” So, your GMAT score is certainly a piece of the admissions puzzle, but the other aspects of your application—essays, resume, letters of recommendation, interviews, GPA and so on—really do matter.



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